(5 Sep 2023) Title 17, Section 407 of the U.S. Code requires that the copyright holder in a printed work or sound recording published in the United States “deposit, within three months after the date of such publication, two complete copies of the best edition… in the Copyright Office for the use or disposition of the Library of Congress.”
Failure to do so subjects the copyright holder to “a fine of not more than $250 for each work” as well as “the total retail price of the copies… demanded” and an additional “fine of $2,500… if such person willfully or repeatedly fails or refuses to comply” with the deposit requirement.
A few years ago, a small publisher called Valancourt Books sued the government, challenging the constitutionality of this requirement, and initially lost its suit. But last week the District of Columbia Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s decision.
Scholarly Kitchen has the article in full here.
